Śrī Rādhā is (6) the ocean of amṛta cchabi rūpa.
She is the very form of glowing nectar and Her form is like a vast ocean. She is mahābhāva personified and mahābhāva is compared to nectar. It is the deepest possible love for Kṛṣṇa, and Rādhā’s form reveals this beauty and tastefulness to the utmost, therefore She is the amṛtacchabi rūpa sindhu. Although Śrī Kṛṣṇa inundates the world with a mere drop of His beauty, even He drowns in the nectar-ocean of Rādhā’s form!
Kṛṣṇa says in ‘Caitanya Caritāmṛta’ (Ādi 4, 242 243):
koṭi kāma jini rūpa yadyapi āmāra;
asamordhva mādhurya sāmya nahi yāra
mora rūpe apyāyita hoy tribhuvana;
rādhāra darśane āmāra juḍāya nayana
…
eimata jagatera sukhe āmi hetu;
rādhikāra rūpa guṇa āmāra jivātu
“Although My form defeats millions of Cupids, is unrivalled in its sweetness and pleases all the three worlds, My eyes are still pleased by seeing Rādhā….In this way I am the cause of joy to the world. But Rādhikā’s form and attributes are My very life!” Because the ocean of Rādhā’s form is so sweet it is compared to the second cosmic ocean, the ocean of sugarcane juice.
Śrīmati is (7) the ocean of playfulness, which means Her frolics with Her beloved Śyāmasundara. She keeps Śyāmasundara immersed in the waves of the ocean of Her pastimes when She meets Him. When the waves of mādana rasa swell in the ocean of Śrī Rādhā’s pastimes even Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental youthful Cupid of Vṛndāvana, does not dare to place His boat-like heart on its surface, just as a boatman fearfully keeps his boat on the bank of the Gaṅgā when her huge waves meet the ocean. This ocean of play is compared to the first cosmic ocean, the ocean of salt water, because although the very sight of this ocean destroys all sins, a person who drinks its water will die. Similarly, when one faithfully chants and hears about the pastimes of Rādhā and Mādhava one will become free from all sins and from the heart’s disease of lust, but when one tries to imitate these pastimes one will perish.
This is confirmed in the last verses of the Rāsa-līlā narration in Śrīmad Bhāgavata:
naitat samācarej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ
vināśatyācaran mauḍhyād yathā rudro’bdhijaṁ viṣam
“Even in one’s mind a non-God should not imitate these pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. A fool who does so will destroy himself. He can, after all, also not drink poison from the ocean of Milk, as Lord Śiva did!”
Śrīpāda Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote in his ‘Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi’ (Haripriya prakarana):
vatitavyaṁ samicchadbhir bhaktavan na tu kṛṣṇavat
ityevam bhakti śāstrāṇāṁ tatparyasya vinirnayaḥ
“A person who desires auspiciousness should act like a devotee, he should never imitate Kṛṣṇa (in His amorous dalliances). This is the purport of all the scriptures!”
The darkness of despair in Śrīpāda’s heart over his own unworthiness is destroyed by the light of Śrīmatī’s sweet attributes.
Śrīpāda thinks: “Hā Svāmini! I am completely unable to serve You with expertise, how can I become qualified to join Your expert maidservants?
You are the ocean of cleverness, please make Me a qualified maidservant by teaching Me this expertise in service! anurāga is also required with that expert service, otherwise that service cannot make You happy. You are the ocean of anurāga, so please make me qualified by giving me one drop of this anurāga! Although I am the most wretched of the wretched, You are the shoreless ocean of motherly affection! Please sprinkle me with just one drop of that vātsalya-affection and keep me with Your lotus-feet! What an audacity! Although I am so unqualified, still I have the courage to pray for Śrīmatī’s service and Her motherly affection? She’s not only the ocean of vātsalya, She’s also the ocean of great mercy! She will surely bestow Her mercy on fallen souls like me!”
When Śrīpāda becomes aware of Śrīmatī’s compassion, he forgets about his own unworthiness and he prays for entrance into the oceans of Śrīmatī’s lāvaṇya, forms and pastimes.
Such eager prayers will unlock the chains of Śrīmati’s compassion, that is the essential teaching for the devotees here.
